Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Toro (NYSE:TTC)

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 1,176 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,709% compared to the average daily volume of 65 put options.

Toro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TTC opened at $68.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.81. Toro has a 52 week low of $62.34 and a 52 week high of $100.93. The firm has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02 and a beta of 0.72. The firm's fifty day moving average is $71.66 and its 200-day moving average is $79.04.

Toro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Toro's payout ratio is presently 38.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TTC. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Toro by 8.4% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 43,703 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,179,000 after acquiring an additional 3,396 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Toro by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 663 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Toro by 11.2% during the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,915 shares of the company's stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Toro by 1.2% during the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 20,312 shares of the company's stock worth $1,479,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Management Associates Inc lifted its holdings in Toro by 100.0% in the first quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 11,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 5,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on TTC. Northland Capmk raised shares of Toro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northland Securities raised Toro from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Toro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Toro has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.75.

Toro Company Profile

The Toro Company designs, manufactures, markets, and sells professional turf maintenance equipment and services. It operates through two segments: Professional and Residential. The Professional segment offers turf and landscape equipment products, including sports fields and grounds mowing and maintenance equipment, golf course mowing and maintenance equipment, landscape contractor mowing equipment, landscape creation and renovation equipment, and other maintenance equipment; rental, specialty, and underground construction equipment, such as horizontal directional drills, walk and ride trenchers, stand-on skid steers, vacuum excavators, stump grinders, turf renovation products, asset locators, pipe rehabilitation solutions, materials handling equipment, and other after-market tools; and snow and ice management equipment, such as snowplows, as well as stand-on snow and ice removal equipment, such as snowplow, snow brush, and snow thrower attachments, salt and sand spreaders, and related parts and accessories for light and medium duty trucks, utility task vehicles, skid steers, and front-end loaders.

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